Industrial/Electro Metal

**Janszoon** · 01-26-2012, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unrelenting

Industrial is kind of a strange genre.It's been turned into an umbrella term with genres that aren't really industrial: like EBM, and acts like Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. Any group that uses a laptop with fat saw synthesizers and computerized drums can be called industrial nowadays. A friend of mine said Tom Waits is closer to industrial than a lot of groups that get called it now.

I would say your friend is right. It's one of the most mis-used genre names out there. The weirdest thing is that most of the characteristics that people mistakenly associate with industrial (like the ones you described above) have nothing to do with what true industrial sounds like.

Unrelenting · 01-26-2012, 01:11 PM

I liken it to the genre electronica. It's used to describe a wide variety of things now, far removed from what it started off as

**Janszoon** · 01-26-2012, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unrelenting

I liken it to the genre electronica. It's used to describe a wide variety of things now, far removed from what it started off as

I wouldn't say electronica is very far removed from what it started off as, it's always been an extremely broad term for a wide array of electronic music.

Unrelenting · 01-26-2012, 01:32 PM

Well, yeah. Looking at that post I see I was a little unclear I suppose. Industrial now is used as a wide tag now the same way that electronica is. Why it's come to that, I don't know.

Edit: Out of curiousity, what groups do you consider "true industrial"? Aside from Throbbing Gristle, I've seen you champion them a few times in my days as a lurker on this site

**Janszoon** · 01-26-2012, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unrelenting

Well, yeah. Looking at that post I see I was a little unclear I suppose. Industrial now is used as a wide tag now the same way that electronica is. Why it's come to that, I don't know.

It's truly bizarre. I blame the 90s.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unrelenting

Edit: Out of curiousity, what groups do you consider "true industrial"? Aside from Throbbing Gristle, I've seen you champion them a few times in my days as a lurker on this site

Cabaret Voltaire, Test Department, Einsturzende Neubauten, some of Coil's output, certain Swans tracks, certain JG Thirlwell tracks, early Pigface, and for a more recent example maybe Flux Information Sciences. I think one of the tricky things about industrial musicians is that they're experimentalists so they seldom stick to a particular style that could reasonably be described as industrial.

Atrocious · 01-26-2012, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unrelenting

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TockTockTock · 01-26-2012, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Cabaret Voltaire, Test Department, Einsturzende Neubauten, some of Coil's output, certain Swans tracks, certain JG Thirlwell tracks, early Pigface, and for a more recent example maybe Flux Information Sciences.

I would be more inclined to say that they're industrial rock and not really industrial, but maybe I'm just being a genre nazi. Great band, though. Despite all of the comparisons to Swans' early work. I still think their music is very unique.

Honestly, I feel the best definition for industrial (to me) would be "abrasive free-form electronic music." I think it's a fairly reasonable definition for a genre that's already difficult to define (even if some industrial bands aren't 100% electronic). I also remember hearing somewhere that industrial music is basically "just Stockhausen doing punk rock." Of course, this isn't really true... but I just thought it was a bit funny, haha.

**Janszoon** · 01-26-2012, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Pat

I would be more inclined to say that they're industrial rock and not really industrial, but maybe I'm just being a genre nazi. Great band, though. Despite all of the comparisons to Swans' early work. I still think their music is very unique.

I guess I could sort of see that, except "industrial rock" was actually the tag given to bands like Skinny Puppy back in the day and I'd say Flux Information Sciences sound a lot more like Einsturzende Neubauten or Test Dept. than like a band like Skinny Puppy.

As far as the Swans comparison goes, I can't say I really hear it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Pat

Honestly, I feel the best definition for industrial (to me) would be "abrasive free-form electronic music." I think it's a fairly reasonable definition for a genre that's fairly difficult to define (even if some industrial bands aren't 100% electronic). I remember hearing somewhere that industrial music is basically just Stockhausen doing punk rock. Of course, this isn't really true... I just thought it was a bit funny, haha.

"Stockhausen doing punk rock" is a pretty good way of putting it.

I was thinking "Krautrock with a punk aesthetic" might be another good one. Not sure I totally agree with "abrasive free-form electronic music" as a definition though. Abrasive and free-form, yes, but some of the key bands weren't particularly electronic.

Unrelenting · 01-26-2012, 05:19 PM

Edited

**Janszoon** · 01-26-2012, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unrelenting

Industrial rock works in my eyes. Sure it sounds different than say Skinny Puppy, but just like how Nickelback doesn't really sound like Led Zepplin and they're both considered rock n roll.

Wait... what? I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing. I was responding to Jack Pat's comment about Flux Information Sciences.

01-26-2012, 01:11 PM	#12 (permalink)
Unrelenting True to username Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 1,100	I liken it to the genre electronica. It's used to describe a wide variety of things now, far removed from what it started off as __________________ My lastfm

01-26-2012, 01:32 PM	#14 (permalink)
Unrelenting True to username Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 1,100	Well, yeah. Looking at that post I see I was a little unclear I suppose. Industrial now is used as a wide tag now the same way that electronica is. Why it's come to that, I don't know. Edit: Out of curiousity, what groups do you consider "true industrial"? Aside from Throbbing Gristle, I've seen you champion them a few times in my days as a lurker on this site __________________ My lastfm Last edited by Unrelenting; 01-26-2012 at 01:39 PM.

01-26-2012, 05:19 PM	#19 (permalink)
Unrelenting True to username Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 1,100	Edited __________________ My lastfm Last edited by Unrelenting; 01-26-2012 at 06:59 PM.